n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Blaxploitation films are so frequently ridiculed and parodied (much of it with reason) these days, that it's easy to forget that some of them were actually pretty good. Shaft (1971) paved the way for the sub-genre with its strutting bad-ass lead who's a sex-machine to all the chicks, and Isaac Hayes' Oscar-winning score (for what he will forever be best remembered for). Hayes himself steps into the lead role here as ex- American football star and bail bondsman Mac 'Truck' Turner, who according to Yaphet Kotto's bad-guy pimp Blue, is "like a bulldog with eyes up his ass!", and displays some surprisingly charismatic qualities that makes it quite a shame he didn't appear in more.Greasy lawyer Fogarty (the great Dick Miller) employs bounty-hunters 'Truck' Turner and his partner Jerry (Alan Weeks - with the best grin in cinema) to track down a low-down pusher and pimp named Gator (Paul Harris). After an extended chase scene, Turner and Jerry manage to kill Gator, much to the dismay of Gator's lady Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols - Uhura!). Dorinda rounds up the big pimps and offers her valuable collection of whores in exchange for Turner's head, a deal in which Blue accepts. Wanting to settle down with his girlfriend Annie (Annazette Chase), Turner finds his life turned upside when Blue employs a gang of hired killers.Beginning almost as a buddy-comedy, the witty script and some genuine chemistry serve up some amusing early scenes, showing off Hayes' natural screen presence. But this turns into pure police procedural blaxploitation as the main plot kicks in, with jive-talk, pimps in some of the most delightfully ludicrous dress I've ever seen, car-chases, slow-motion shoot-outs, cocaine, hookers, and of course a tragically neglected soundtrack from Hayes himself. The action scenes are surprisingly good, and Corman protégé Jonathan Kaplan (director of fellow Grindhouse Project feature Night Call Nurses (1972) - review #443) makes sure he includes as much slow-motion men falling off rooftops and gushing fake blood as possible. Bloody good fun, and probably better than Shaft.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

The string of blaxploitation movies continued with Jonathan Kaplan's "Truck Turner", starring Isaac Hayes as a football player looking for a bail-jumping pimp. The trailer proclaims HE MAKES A HEALTHY LIVING...BY MAKING LIVING UNHEALTHY! The movie has everything that you might expect in such a movie. What I thought was really neat was the cast. Aside from Hayes (known to later generations as Chef on "South Park"), there's Nichelle Nichols (Uhura on "Star Trek"), Scatman Crothers (Dick Hallorann in "The Shining"), and character actor Dick Miller, who often plays a character named Walter Paisley, but has also appeared in every one of Joe Dante's movies.All in all, a really fun flick.

I've always loved Blaxploitation films but don't know them all, and I recently found Truck Turner by complete chance. I LOVED it, Turner is such a bad-ass! He would kick Dirty Harry's and Shaft's asses big time! The film itself is also technically quite interesting, both in the direction, cinematography and editing; I loved the camera on Blue's face when he's about to die, or the shots that make Turner appear taller or his gun appear gigantic. The movie is also very funny at times, maybe more than it was actually intended: the vocabulary, several one-liners and the way the main characters bully anyone in the way just cracked me up. Hayes' music is also great, as usual. Great fun, great performances, great flick overall. A must-see for any who loves Blaxploitation. I wish I could see more of him; Turner deserved one or several sequels.

This is a better than average so-called "blaxploitation" film about a bounty hunter named Truck Turner (Isaac Hayes). When he and his partner are trying to bring in a pimp after he jumped bail, the pimp tries to shoot Turner and Turner has no choice but to shoot him. However, he never anticipated that the pimp's woman (Nichelle Nichols) was a total psycho and she put a contract out on Turner. The rest of the film consists of various hoods (most notably Yahpet Kotto) trying to kill Turner.This is a pretty exciting film and is well directed, written and acted--making this very unusual for the genre. Most blaxploitation films have horrible production values and are best seen as "guilty pleasures"--this film stands well on its own and doesn't suffer from many of the clichés you'd normally find in one of these films.One of the more interesting reasons to see the movie is to see Nichols in a non-Star Trek role. Here, she is 100% different from Lt. Uruhu, as she's a very filthy mouthed and angry lady indeed!! She's intensely nasty--and one of the most despicable women you'd ever see in a blaxploitation film! While this film is far from high art and not exactly subtle, if you are looking for a 1970s Black-American themed action picture, it's hard to do much better than this one.